[Nexus] Inside 44

[FireFox]

[Rooftop]

Oh, sorry, I see what you mean now. Ally giggles. I never thought I'd ever be in a... healthy relationship with anyone. At least, not since I was young.

[Devixer]

[Rooftop]

"Neither did I." Ashley frowns again, as she remembers people from her world, and the things they said to her. It's painful to remember, and she ends up clinging a little more tightly to Ally. "At least we were wrong, eventually."

[FireFox]

[Rooftop]

The thief holds on to her girlfriend and tries to kiss her cheek again. Yeah... Right now, I'm happier than I ever was. She privately suspects some of the more impressive jobs she's pulled off and the larger scores she's taken may rank a bit higher than this particular moment, but in the interest of romanticism she neglects to bring them up.

[Rebonack]

[PokeCenter]

The Rocket Grunt is stalled by the pointy bird!

Then clobbered from behind by the elephant!

And then Glamdring claws his way out of the sack!

...what?

You didn't seriously expect that thing to hold him did you?

Ha!

As if!

The Rocket Grunt staggers to his feet, glaring at those gathered around. "Time to beat a hasty retreat. You haven't seen the last of Team Rocket!"

And with that he pulls of Koffing out of his pockets and hurls it into the ground!

"KOOOOOOOOO!" goes the Pokemon as a thick cloud of nasty smelling smoke fills the room!

[Devixer]

[Rooftop]

Ashley smiles as she's kissed again, and decides to try and be less depressed about her past. "Me too." She hesitates for a few seconds, then tries to kiss Ally.

[FireFox]

[Rooftop]

Ally kisses back happily. I love you, Ash.

[Devixer]

[Rooftop]

"I love you too. So much." Ashley has a bit of a dumb grin on her face as she tries to rest her forehead on Ally's shoulder.

[Gullara]

[PokeCenter]

Ack! Smoke! Stinky smoke. Becca coughs, hacks, wheezes, and eventually figures out to get nearer to the ground. "Phanish! Glamdring! Get him! We can't let that jerk get away!" She's feeling spiteful and angry. Of course, Phanish is currently wandering around blindly and is unlikely to find anything.

[FireFox]

[Rooftop]

The thief holds the mage close. As accustomed as she is to sleeping outdoors and on hard surfaces, Ally is pretty close to dozing off right now.

[Devixer]

[Rooftop]

Ashley won't try to keep Ally from falling asleep, being a little tired herself. She'll probably be awake a little longer, though. Not that she particularly minds that.

[FireFox]

[Rooftop]

Ally soon falls asleep. She's able to do so as quickly as this not because she's overly tired, but because she trusts Ashley to not steal all her stuff and run away. That would be sad.

[Devixer]

[Rooftop]

Ashley will watch Ally sleep for a while, but it won't be long before she falls asleep as well. She can't help but note that the floor didn't seem so uncomfortable anymore.

[Zefir]

Alley Near DFI

Jurassico pulls out the same raygun he did at the zoo. He aims it at a nearby dumpster mimic and fires. Suddenly the dumpster mimic shrinks down and Jurassico grows to about eight or nine feet talk, his hat wand and ray gun scaling in size. He puts the ray gun back in his hat and pulls out a deck of cards. With a flick of the wrist all fifty two are imbedded about two inches into the brick wall in the shape of a smiley face. I have much more technology at my disposal if you'd like some more demonstrations but the point is, by myself I have only a small chance of beating them. It's a numbers game really, multiple of them one of me. But us working together? he motions to the group that stepped out of the shadow then we have a real chance.

Alley Near DFI

The shrinking dumpster shenanigans definitely catches Ivaz's attention. And she just can't resist joining in.

As annoying as he may be, the lizard's got a point. We could do a lot more if we worked with each other. Go ahead and claim to not be a villain all you want. That group at the zoo won't care. So, why try to go it alone, huh?

Alley Near DFI

Actually the guy thinks that this is useless to clear. He don't sees himself as villain cause the local authority are the evil guy. That way the 'heroes' are the bad and so on. Just something from his back story.

After all he watches the shenanigans of the little Rex. And listens to the shadow caster.

"And what is the plan? Causing random chaos won't bring an advantage."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Alley Near DFI

Actually the guy thinks that this is useless to clear. He don't sees himself as villain cause the local authority are the evil guy. That way the 'heroes' are the bad and so on. Just something from his back story.

After all he watches the shenanigans of the little Rex. And listens to the shadow caster.

"And what is the plan? Causing random chaos won't bring an advantage."

Ivaz folds her arms across her impressive chest and leans against the wall.

Maybe not. But it does bring attention. And fun.

So, if you want some kind of plan, you're gonna have to contribute. Got any ideas?

[celtois]

[Zoo]

With a muttered curse at her player's ineptness, Lightning Lass steps through the portal as well.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Zoo]

Keeper, naturally enough, heads through the portal after her.

[Lex-Kat]

[Arkham Street Hospital]

"He'll look a lot like me. But probably bigger. And with four tails instead of two," Freddy replies as he creeps toward the entrance of the hospital. "That's assuming he or she or whatever isn't using an illusionary shape. And since he's got more tails than I do I won't be able to see through his illusions, either. Unless..."

The demon-fox trails off before trotting over to the hospital's weed-choked front lawn and begins searching for... something.

After a few minutes! "Ah! Found some!"

He picks a small cluster of purple flowers and plops them down in front of the onion!

Wait, onion?

The Huldra does a double-take and tries his best not to let the Nexus weirdness get to him. "This is allheal. If you keep it with you it'll allow you to see through a Huldra's deceptions. It won't work for me, but at least one of us won't be clueless."

Vidalia follows the Huldra to the hospital doors.

Vidalia reaches a tendril out and takes the flowers. Thanks. Are we getting dinner next? The flowers disappear into the onion.

She shifts back into her human form and checks the lock on the door. I can pick this, just a moment. she begins to do so.

[Rebonack]

[Arkham Street Hospital]

Probably a padlock on a chain wrapped around the door handles. And no doubt with a sign nailed to the wall nearby, 'Keep Out! There aren't any adventures in here.'

Darn adventurers!

Always going where they aren't supposed to so they can kill things and take their stuff.

After some fiddling and clicking 'POP!' goes the lock and the hospital is now accessible!

Always a good thing if you want to poke around in a run down, dilapidated hospital filled with ethereal undead.

"You don't want me to have dinner with you," Freddy replies in a half-joking fashion. "Believe me."

[Lex-Kat]

{Arkham Street Hospital}

Vidalia grins. I don't know. It'll couldn't that bad, could it? Vidalia says, leading the way inside.

The hospital looks just as you've seen abandoned hospitals on teevee. Cobwebs in all the corners, old equipment that for some reason was deemed unsalvagable strewn about the place as if it'd been hit by a tornado.

And blood. It was like a crime-scene inside. One has to wonder, why did they never clean the place up?

[Rebonack]

[Arkham Street Hospital]

"It would be awful," Freddy insists as he heads inside-

-and is met with the scent of blood. The weird thing is that this place should have been closed down for who knows how many years. And yet there are still blood stains and stuff. One would think that critters would have nommed it all up already.

But 'survival horror' settings rarely make all that much sense if you think about them too hard.

Anywho!

"There are lots of ghosts in here," Freddy confirms as he sniffs at the air. "Most of them are really weak. But... there are a few powerful ones. And one really strong one. They probably already know that we're here."

dun Dun DUN!

[Lex-Kat]

[Arkham Street Hospital]

Really? Vidalia says, surprised. You can sense powerful ghosts?

Now that they are inside, the weaker ghosts begin to appear.

And I don't know.... Do ghosts know what a Hulra is? Will they flee from his presence?

[Rebonack]

[Arkham Street Hospital]

Depends, really. Mostly on the sort of ghost we're talking about. In Freddy's world ghosts only remember what they knew in life. Except for the equivalent of short-term memory they can't learn anything new.

So with that kind of ghost they wouldn't know what a Huldra is unless they knew what one is whilst alive.

More powerful undead, Wraiths, are fully aware and able to learn new things. But they're really dangerous and Freddy would rather avoid them. For a Huldra he's still pretty weak. Only two tails after all.

Anywho!

Freddy nods, "Just like a human can sense a really great smelling meal being cooked. And speaking of meals, here are some now!"

Several wisps of fox fire dart out of the Huldra and attempt to bind the nearest ghost in ethereal chains!

[Lex-Kat]

{Arkham Street Hospital}

The ghost is caught and bound. Unlike Nurse Piper, who seamed to have a death wish of some sort. This young ghost tries to fight against the chains.

Vidalia feels a pang of sympathy, and turns away. Uh, I'll just wait outside.

[Rebonack]

[Arkham Street Hospital]

The ethereal chains are, in a sense, amalgamations of other souls nommed by the Huldra. So one ghost getting ensnared by the fox fire isn't terribly different from a human having half a dozen people dog-pile on them. Escape is possible if one is strong enough.

But...

Far from easy.

Freddy opens his mouth as a dark wind pulls at the ghost, threatening to drag it into the void within the demon fox.

Should it go tumbling into that abyss there's no return for it.

Ever.

Freddy is a bit too preoccupied to hear Vidalia excuse herself.

[Lex-Kat]

{Arkham Street Hospital}

The ghost isn't strong enough to resist the pull and is eaten by Freddy.

Vidalia waits outside. Freddy was right. She doesn't want to be with him while he eats.

[Rebonack]

[Arkham Street Hospital]

A few minutes later the Huldra trots out through the doors. His steps are no longer those of one trembling with pain and hunger. And for some small amount of time he feels whole again. Human. As though he had regained what he had lost.

Though...

It will be painfully temporary.

It always is.

"Umm... thank you for showing me the way here," Freddy comments to Vidalia once he joins her outside a few minutes later. "And... I think I might like to join that group you're in. Glog, right? Don't they help people like me? People who are trying to be good?"

[LadyOfWar]

[Granola Street]

Panicked AND remorseful.

We'll go with that.

"I can't see them," Freddy replies apologetically. "Or... at least if I can I don't know how to."

He probably needs more tails to do that sort of thing. Two tails is still kind of pathetic. More tails is always the solution!

At the request to stop looking sad Freddy does his best attempt at smiling. Ever see a dog smile before? Looks sort of like they're showing their teeth. But it always ends up looking quite a bit more silly.

"I... ah, I can try at least m'lady," he replies in a somewhat forced-upbeat tone. He then straightens up a little! "Introductions are in order, right? You can call me Fredrick. Or Freddy if you prefer. I'm... a rather reluctant Huldra. Unfortunately it was a curse I couldn't avoid."

But what if he reaches nine tails and still can't solve a problem? What is his solution then?

That is plenty of hypothetical questions for one post, don't you think?

The dog-smile brings a human smile to the woman's face. She bobs her head in approval when he straightens up. She just can't have her new acquaintance be panicked and remorseful for long. It is best to move past that quickly! She wants him to have as much fun in this strange town as she is having!

When he says that he is a reluctant Huldra and he thinks of it as a curse her eyes go wide. "Oh, that's awful. Being forced to be something you don't want to be. Everyone should be who they are, not what some curse tells them to." Her eyebrows knit together. This is the first genuinely serious expression she has had since he first encountered her dancing about in the rain.

Then she is interrupted by her own thought, causing her to verbally scurry down another path. "Oh! I'm supposed to introduce myself, aren't I? I'm Joy, and I'll call you whichever name you prefer. Freddy is fun to say, but Fredrick sounds more sophisticated. I've never heard of a Huldra before."

---------------

Dave's Free Clinic
Well...Dave's actually going because his doctor clone has gone off to file Dave's taxes.
Once Wes' lunch break is over, she might notice an extremely urgent message coming through her pager. It only gave the room number of that pokemon trainer.

Westlanna promptly heads for the room that her pager sends her to. She may not have decided what to do about Dave yet, but she knows that they are actually helping people here, and she is not going to simply stop working when some poor kid is lying there in need of help.


((Post for the Chase From Limit Street is coming. I just need time to type it up.))

[Rebonack]

[Granola Street]

Who says that nine tails is the limit?

Maybe ten just hasn't ever been reached before? That or the old story about a Huldra that devours 1000 souls becoming human again might be true. Who knows!

Anywho! Freddy would really love to have fun. In fact, he could probably have a ton of fun if he started exploring his new nature rather than sulking about it. But that ache of his hollow heart keeps reminding him of what he lost...

And that makes him blue...

Eerr...

Well.

He's a Huldra.

So he's always blue. Like the color. As opposed to blue as in sad.

ANYWAY!

He replies to Joy's first comment with a foxy grin. "I managed to keep my soul at least. Which makes me think the Emperor has some kind of plan for me. I can take comfort in that."

He then offers his best bow! Which again, looks rather silly coming from a fox. Despite this he does his best to look as dapper as possible! This woman's mood is contagious and he's going to do his best not to get her down! "Fredrick will do, lady Joy. It's my please to meet your acquaintance. And if you'll allow it-"

He then reaches around with one of his vaguely flame-like tails, the end of it taking on an almost claw-like appearance and he reaches down his own throat and-!

Pulls out a little teeny tiny ember of normal colored fire. Sparks of blue are cast from it, though otherwise it looks like a tongue of fire one might see on a candle.

"I believe this is yours!" that foxy grin grows a little wider! "Ha! I wasn't even sure if I could do that or not! I suppose it was worth giving it a try then!"

[Slii Arhem]

Nexus Contractor's Union

Here, the builders, sculptors, and shapers of the Nexus hold sway. Those who work behind the scenes to create the great buildings and landscapes that characters have grown dependent on the existence of. From prehaunted hospitals to pixie infested parks, the NCU does it all.

Employing masons, electricians, plumbers, landscapers, and guys that stand on the side of the road, constantly on break with shovels in their hands, the NCU is one of the many fine npc run Nexusian institutions that PCs hardly ever interact with.

But the very existence of this post means something must be afoot. It seems that, due to a well done job, they've been recommended from one PC to another, and now are potentially being offered their first on-screen contract.

[Murkus]

Nexus Contractor's Union

Presumably Adir, Sakura, Harnel, and their little baby Laela come strolling up to the Union's place of business. He had been expecting something magical, but it's a bit refreshing to see mundane workers who (according to Harnel, anyway) work quickly and efficiently. Adir is, embarrassingly enough, pushing Laela's stroller for Sakura.